The brave Sir Stripes
by just goddamn peachy
Summary: Sarah believes a brave little cat saved her from the evil Goblin King


It was nice autumn afternoon and Sarah was admiring the mix of colors on the trees on her way home. That was when she spotted IT sitting on a particularly low branch. An owl. Staring right at her. She froze, her blood rushing and her mind screaming

"

Mayday! Mayday!

"

. The owl had the nerve to hoot. She frowned and took off her

scarpin

, ready to trow it at her feathery nemesis, but forced herself to stop, shoe in hand. What if it was just an ordinary owl? Sarah was, after all, absolutely against animal cruelty. A lump formed in her throat and she analyzed the bird. It was an owl, as previously noted. It was cream colored. She did not have the necessary knowledge to identify what kind of owl. For her all owls looked adorable and that was pretty much it. Except for those which had feather eyebrows that made them look angry. Those were just plain hilarious! There was, of course that nervous looking owl from that YouTube video she loved. What was its name again? Nelly? Either way, that particular owl was not mad. Or nervous. In fact, at the moment it looked at her with its little head cooked to the right. Was it challenging her to throw her black

scarpin

? Because she would! Just when she was considering that absolutely nothing would give her more pleasure than hitting the Goblin King right on his feathery ass with the pointy end of her

scarpin

, a hiss entered her ears. Out of nowhere, came a cat. It climbed the tree in a failed attempt to hunt the owl, who was forced to fly away. Maybe it was just an ordinary owl. Or maybe the Goblin King didn't appreciate cats. As Sarah bent down to put her shoe back on her foot, where it belongs, she felt the feline rub his little head against her ankle. The cat was grayish and striped, with green eyes and a cute little pink nose. As she petted it, the girl noticed it didn't seem to be a stray. The cat was clearly well fed, although he did not have a collar.

"

Do you live around here?

"

She studied the street, hoping to identify which of the white houses the cat came from. It wasn't until her legs started to hurt from the bent position that the decision to go home was made. As any polite young lady would do, she bid her rescuer farewell and kept on her way. Said rescuer apparently believed he was entitled to more than mere petting as a reward, since it followed the fair maiden to her small one bedroom castle, ignoring her pleads that its owner might miss it. That afternoon she gave it a small plate of milk, which the cat drank after inspecting it, and sat on the couch watching

tv

with the needy fur ball on her lap. It was only at night that the cat positioned itself by the window, meowing. As soon as the window was open, the cat jumped on the fire escape and went on his merry way home. Occasionally he would come back, meowing on her fire escape until Sarah opened the window. It would always meow at her indignantly when she didn't allow it to stay on the kitchen counter, and it looked absolutely resentful when she did not allow him to hunt those round crystals that would materialize every so often, instead, she would use a broom to push them inside a plastic bag that she always tied with a very tight knot. Still, the feline enjoyed the company and, particularly, the cuddles on the couch.

Until,

one certain afternoon, other creatures had the nerve to steal her attention. They came from the mirror in her living room and stared at the cat who was purring no more. A hideous dwarf, a

fox-terier

mounted on an English Sheepdog and a gigantic furry creature. Both the dwarf and the fox eyed the cat uncertainly and exchange looks. The giant, in its simplicity saw something cute and wanted to pet it.

"

Kitty!

"

It approached and ran it's gigantic paw over the cat's back with a little more force than needed, causing the smaller creature to hiss and jump out of Sarah's lap.

"

Oh! I'm sorry Ludo. I guess he is not used to magical creatures. Come to think of it, the goblins are never around when he is.

"

Ludo was clearly upset about the cat's reaction, as he dropped himself on the floor with a big thud and sat there sulking. Another exchange of looks between the two friends close to the mirror.

Hoggle

shuffled his feet in discomfort and Sir

Didymus

cleared his throat. The dwarf was the first one to talk.

"

And that is?

"

"

Oh... I call him Sir Stripes. He is not mine, but he likes to visit.

"

Sarah then got up and walked to the bookshelf, trying to reach for the top of it, where said cat was sited, looking at the visitors like they were something out of his litter box.

"

My lady, might I ask how did this creature got access to your fortress?

"

"

I let him in. He saved me, you know? This brave little fellow scared the Goblin King away.

"

"

This rat-catcher scared that... rat?

"

Another hiss followed by a growl.

"

What my friend here means to say is how can this cat scare our king?

"

"

Oh, he was in his owl form.

"

"

The cat?

"

"

No, friend

Hoggle

, our king.

"

"

Precisely. I think he scares away magical creatures. If you guys want, I can put him in my bedroom while you are here.

"

Sarah had finally managed to reach the cat who she had in her arms, his little head resting on her shoulder, as she tried to calm it down. The cat, however, jumped of her arms and sat on the floor, eyes daring anyone to contradict his will.

"

You know, Sarah...maybe ya shouldn't have this cat

aroun

'.

"

"

Why? Does he bother you?

"

Hoggle

felt Sir

Didymus

paw on his shoulder. The fox-terrier shook his head, his one eye telling

Hoggle

more than a thousand words ever would. He looked at the cat again. It was distressed, and poor, sweet Sarah was trying to calm him with gentle words and petting.

"

Ah... nah... It's

allrigh

'. Just worried he would hurt ya.

"

"

Aw

..

That's nice. But you don't need to worry. He is very gentle and never tried to scratch me.

"

It was with guilt filling his heart that

Hoggle

witnessed the Goblin King rub his furry head against Sarah's wrist, a victorious look on his cat eyes.


End file.
